Posts tagged Connecticut
Unveiling Financial Transparency Failures in Labor Organizations
July 24, 2025 // In 2024 alone, the DOL recorded 177 union enforcement actions involving fraud, embezzlement, wire fraud, and falsified records. These are only the crimes that rise to the level of federal prosecution. Far more ethical violations, financial misuses, and questionable behaviors fall below the radar leaving union members in the dark and are quietly buried through internal repayments, hush resignations, or legal threats — all without any formal DOL investigation or public accountability. Despite 16 years as a union official, I did not become aware of the existence of LM-2 financial disclosure filings until our local filed a lawsuit against our state affiliate. Imagine that: even as a union president and past treasurer, I was unaware that both our state and national unions were required to submit LM-2 forms to the Department of Labor. If someone like me — deeply engaged in union governance — was kept in the dark, how can we expect average members to know their rights, much less exercise them?
Union contracts for UConn employees expire without new agreements in place
July 23, 2025 // UConn’s AAUP has about 2,065 members and UCPEA has about 2,250. UConn Health’s AAUP has about 685 members and University Health Professionals has about 3,400
Connecticut state worker contracts expired on July 1 and unions want more pay
July 8, 2025 // With the start of the new state budget year on July 1, contracts for 45,000 unionized state workers have expired and union leaders said Thursday that there is evidence of employee retention and recruitment "failures" by the Lamont administration
Bridgeport loses labor dispute over replacement of alleged ballot stuffer
June 26, 2025 // Geter-Pataky was allegedly caught on camera stuffing hundreds of absentee ballots for Bridgeport’s 2023 Democratic primary race between Mayor Joe Ganim and John Gomes into a ballot drop box, sparking multiple investigations, a court-ordered redo of the Democrat primary, and making Bridgeport the national face of voter fraud. Geter-Pataky, who served as vice chair for Bridgeport’s Democratic party and worked for Ganim’s campaign, also worked in Bridgeport City Hall as an “operations specialist,” which involved answering the phones and fielding questions from city departments and the public, according to the labor board’s decision.
Op-Ed: Public employees deserve truth from union officials
June 24, 2025 // Pueblo’s contract isn’t even the worst offender in Colorado. The Denver Housing Authority’s contract, enacted this year, says that its 300-plus employees must be full, dues-paying members of the union, AFSCME Local 535. If enforced, the requirement could be one of the most egregious violations of public employees’ rights of free speech and association anywhere in the country. With some union officials unaware of — or unwilling to comply with — dettled law, it’s more important than ever for public employees in the state to understand their rights under union representation.
Screaming For Subsidies: Unions Throw Public Tantrum Outside Governor’s Mansion
June 18, 2025 // Yet the day’s events turned hostile when union protesters vandalized a mobile billboard truck commissioned by Yankee Institute. The vehicle displayed messages urging Gov. Lamont to veto S.B. 8.
Oregon Won’t Enforce LPA Requirement After Law Declared Illegal – Similar Laws in Other States Are Also Ripe for Challenge
June 10, 2025 // While several other states (such as Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island) have LPA requirements, this ruling applies only to the Oregon law. Similar laws in other states are also ripe for challenge, and challenges are underway in some other states. Some industry players, however, have shied away from contesting the laws because of a desire not to upset the regulators upon whose good will they need to operate.
5.9% of Washington Workers Are Union Members, 6th Most in the U.S.
June 9, 2025 // Union membership in the United States has declined to its lowest point in decades. In 1979, unions represented 24.1% of the American workforce. By 2024, that share had fallen to just 9.9%, according to figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and UnionStats. In absolute terms, this represents a drop of roughly 6.7 million members—from a peak of 20.9 million in 1979 to around 14.2 million in 2024.
CT Union Threatens Lamont Over Striking Worker Bill
June 4, 2025 // S.B. 8, which passed the Senate 24–11 on May 28 with Sen. Norm Needleman (D-Essex) abstaining, rewrites Section 31-236 of state law to allow striking workers to collect unemployment benefits after 14 days on the picket line — even if they volunteered to strike. Gov. Lamont vetoed a similar bill last year, and for good reason. This year, he’s again signaling opposition — but unions aren’t taking “no” for an answer.
Pratt & Whitney workers approve contract, ending strike; deal keeps work in Connecticut
May 27, 2025 // The union, representing nearly 3,000 members at two Pratt & Whitney sites in Connecticut, said the offer was approved by 74%. IAM members had rejected the company's first offer in early May. Under the contract, Pratt & Whitney pledged to continue to operate its two facilities in Connecticut, in East Hartford and Middletown, through 2029. Specifics of that commitment were not immediately available. Keeping work at the two Connecticut facilities was a top priority for the union, which had worried that work could be moved to non-union factories out of state.